PDF Documents – Tips & Tricks – add comments to a PDF document

One of the most durable features of Adobe Acrobat is the ability to add comments to a PDF document. In Acrobat, comments refer to almost all of the notes and drawings that you can place in PDF pages to provide comments to the author of the document or to write notes that are useful to you when reviewing documents. Let’s look at some ways to add Acrobat comments to a PDF.

Comment Tools

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Acrobat provides several comment and markup tools designed for various commenting tasks. In Acrobat DC, select Comment in the Tools panel to display the Comment toolbar with annotation and comment tools. In Acrobat XI, these tools are located in the comments panel on the right side of the document window. Acrobat’s comment tools are divided into two types of Review options:

Annotations are comments that appear on the page as predefined icons. These include Sticky Notes, a text highpoint, virtual rubber stamps, and a good collection of text annotation tools for cross-checking, pointing out, and more.
The drawing marks are comments whose purpose is to draw something on the page, usually to draw attention to a particular element of the page. These include circles, arrows, and free-form drawings.
You can add comments to any PDF file unless the security has been applied to the document to prohibit comments. Security settings include the option to allow comments and fill in form fields, even if the default is to avoid any changes when security is enforced.
Acrobat Feedback Shortcuts

To draw Straight lines or arrows (vertical, horizontal, or 90 degrees): press and hold the [SHIFT] key while drawing with the line or arrow tools.
To draw a Perfect Circle: press and hold [SHIFT] when you draw with the Oval tool.
To draw a square: press and hold [SHIFT] when you draw with the rectangle tool.
Tips for customizing your comment tools
Want to change the default appearance of the tools you use most often? Did you Know there are 17 different types of sticky notes? Do you want to quickly add an Acrobat comment from a toolbar? Try These tips to customize the appearance and behavior of Acrobat’s comment options:

To Change the default comment preferences: Press [CTRL] + K to open the Preferences dialog box or click Edit > preferences. Select options in the comments category; These include the character type, author name, and Acrobat Comment-pop behavior.
To Display the Property bar: Press [CTRL] + E or select View > Show/Hide > Toolbar > Show Property Bar. This gives you a quick way to change the appearance of the selected item. Click More in the property bar to learn more options. You Can also find properties when you right-click the comment icon in the comments list or in the document.
To Change the default properties of a specific Acrobat comment tool: In the document, right-click a comment icon that you want to continue to use. Then Click Properties, and then select Default Tool properties.
To View specific comments: The first line of options in the Comments list includes tools for searching, sorting, filtering, and customizing the list.
Summarize comments
Printing a document with comments has a major drawback. Acrobat does not print comment annotation text except for text boxes. All other types of comments are printed simply as icons. For other options, print the document summary.

To Print a summary:

In The Comment List toolbar, click the Options menu (shown on the right).
Select Print with summary of comments
Or
Press [CTRL] + T.
Or
Select file > Print or [CTRL] + P.
Click Summarize Comments. Confirm the creation of the summary, and then print the document.
To Customize the comment summary:
In The Comment List toolbar, click Options
Choose Create Comment Summary.
Customize for the type of summary you want.
Select The Create Comment Summary button to create a new document with the comment summary.
Other Comment Options
Acrobat also includes a comment List panel to review existing comments. For a quick response, simply right-click a comment and choose the answer instead of saturating the list with additional entries. This list can also be printed with the PDF (See the shortcuts above).

Depending On which Adobe Acrobat services are installed and available in your organization, you may have several options for sending a PDF for other users to review. The most common option is an email review. Unfortunately, unlike the change-tracking features in Microsoft Word and Excel, review of comments cannot be easily integrated into the PDF document. Instead, it would update the original source files to reflect the new changes.